Birthday Gone Wild
by sunsprite16
Summary: What began as an ordinary birthday for Tia Victoria turns into a nightmare when she turns into a rampaging piñata! But Miguel's love for his great-aunt might just save the day. Please review and I would love any constructive feedback.
1. The Party is Ruined

Imelda crossed her arms with pride. She was head planning a birthday party for her granddaughter, Victoria.

Imelda had instructed her younger twin brothers to bake a cake, told Hector, Rosita, and Julio to put up balloons and streamers, asked Coco to sew a wool sweater as a gift, and Imelda herself sent out tons of invitations.

Imelda went over to help Coco put the finishing touches on the sweater when Oscar and Felipe came into the room with a flambé cake.

Hector said as he and Rosita came into the house,"That sure smells good."

Imelda looked all around the room with a smile. "Looks like everything is set up."

At that moment, someone knocked on the front door. Hector opened it only to be trampled by a ton of partygoers. He asked his wife in disbelief,"Imelda how many people did you invite?"

Imelda brushed some of her hair away, feeling rather embarrassed. "I guess I got carried away."

At that moment, Victoria appeared and went over to help Hector put himself together.

Hector noticed Victoria's worried face. "What's wrong Victoria? It's your birthday. You should be happy."

"I am happy. It's just that... I don't do well at parties."

Hector put on a sly smile. "Don't worry. Just stick with me and you'll be fine."

Victoria rolled her eyes and followed Hector into the house.

* * *

Victoria crossed her arms. All everyone was doing was talking amongst each other.

 _This party could use a little something._ Victoria thought, feeling rather bored.

Suddenly something caught her eye. Imelda's magic elixir. Somehow Victoria was tempted to drink the elixir. Once she did, she turned into a giant piñata that resembled a cup of tea complete with a dish and a spoon.

Everyone witnessed this and started to scream and run for their lives. One of the frightened partygoers went up to Imelda, put his hands on her shoulders, and said in an almost commanding voice,"You've got to stop that monster!"

Imelda was appalled at Victoria being called a monster so Imelda angrily brushed the skeleton away.

Meanwhile, Victoria spat out boiling hot tea at frightened skeletons as she made her way towards the Land of the Living.

Rosita said in fear,"Poor Victoria... What are we going to do?"

Imelda said boldly,"We are going to save Victoria! Vamonos!"

Imelda grabbed a broom and headed out the door. Hector, Coco, Rosita, Julio, Oscar, and Felipe nodded at each other then quickly followed Imelda.

Imelda suddenly stopped at her tracks. "Wait...? How did Victoria get a hold of the elixir?"

Felipe chuckled nervously and said,"I might have used some magic for the cake then put the elixir on the living room counter..."

Imelda could feel her temper rising but managed to take a deep breath to calm herself down.

Suddenly Rosita said happily,"Well no wonder! The cake was so delicious!"

Imelda gasped in horror.

As soon as Imelda turned around to face her family, Rosita grew more than a mile high!

Felipe found himself fainting.

As Oscar went over to check on his twin brother, Coco hollered,"Rosita! Are you feeling alright?"

Rosita looked down at her "tiny" family. She squealed,"Never felt better!"

Imelda was dazed at not only Victoria turning into a giant, rampaging piñata but Rosita turning into a giant.

The matriarch of the Rivera family snapped back to reality at the sound of Hector's voice. "OK first thing's first. We need to find Victoria before she gets to the Land of the Living."

Coco said softly,"But Victoria could be anywhere... How do we narrow it down?"

Suddenly, Dante and Pepita came into view. Imelda smirked. "With our Alebrijes."


	2. Rosa Can See Us?

It was a glorious, sunny day in Santa Cecilia.

Miguel's younger twin cousins were playing tag in Mariachi Plaza with their father, Berto, watching over them, of course.

Migue's dad, Enrique, and Abuelita were carrying in a brand new, shiny piano into the Rivera household.

And, Miguel himself was playing badminton with his cousin Rosa. Ever since music entered the lives of the Riveras once again, Miguel was inspired to bond with each of his family members even more.

Miguel swung his racket and successfully scored yet another point. Rosa readjusted her glasses and smirked. "Not bad."

Miguel smirked as well. "Thanks. I've been practicing."

Rosa suddenly felt confused. "But I thought music was the only thing that motivated you."

Miguel smiled. "It does but I'm allowed to love badminton too."

Rosa giggled and said,"OK, my turn to serve."

Rosa was about to serve when she and Miguel could hear screams in the distance.

Miguel and Rosa ran towards the plaza to see Tia Victoria terrorizing the citizens of Santa Cecilia by hitting them with her spoon.

Miguel and Rosa gasped and hid behind a wall. Rosa whispered to her cousin,"What in the world is that thing?"

Miguel tried to calm himself down. As soon as he did, Miguel peeked his head in the alleyway to see Victoria pouring tea on Rosa's mother, Carmen, who yelped in pain. Miguel felt like his eyes could pop out at any moment. Rosa suddenly said in determination,"We've got to get help."

Miguel nodded, feeling just as determined. He was about to run but ended up bumping into Hector. Miguel and Hector said in unison,"You're here!"

Miguel and Hector gave each other a hug. Soon, Imelda, Coco, Julio, Felipe, Oscar, and a giant Rosita joined the embrace. Rosita eventually noticed Rosa staring at them. Rosita said out loud,"Uh... guys... Rosa can see us."

Everyone turned their attention to Rosa who continued to stare at them.

"Rosa can see us? How is this possible?" Julio asked in awe.

Hector put on a rather awkward grin and guessed,"By the power of our family's love of music...?"

Coco put on a loving smile, went up to Rosa, gently caressed her face, and said,"It's so good to see you mija."

Rosa immediately gave Coco a hug.

Hector put his hands over his heart. He treasured his daughter's warmth and kindness.

The Riveras smiled at the embrace between Coco and Rosa until Rosa screamed at the sight of Victoria who was heading their way.

Everyone swiftly turned around in time to see Victoria shooting tea spurts from her mouth.

Oscar and Felipe shouted in unison","Hit the deck!"

Without warning, Rosita kicked Victoria in fear. This made Victoria screech in pure anger. She then flew down and grabbed Miguel by the mouth!

Imelda shouted in horror,"Miguel!"

Being the quick thinker that she was, Imelda whistled for Rosebud, Pepita, and Dante. The animals grabbed Miguel by the leg. But Victoria spat out hot tea on the spirit creatures which made them run away.

Victoria then flew high into the sky and soon was out of sight!

Rosita frowned and immediately went after Victoria to save Miguel. But, Victoria was far too fast for Tia Rosita.

Rosita stopped to catch her breath. She was distraught at the fact that Miguel was being taken by his own aunt!

Suddenly, Rosita shrunk back to her normal size. The rest of the Rivera family ran up to Rosita who suddenly began to cry. She wept,"What do we do now?"

The Riveras looked at each other, feeling heartbroken.

Imelda quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and told her family,"There's still hope."

Imelda looked up towards the mountains. "We have to get to the tallest mountain. That's where Victoria took Miguel."

Julio asked her, even though deep down he knew he should never question Imelda,"How do you know for sure?"

Imelda answered as she lead her family through the plaza, towards the tallest mountain,"Great-great-great grandmother's intuition." She then looked at her younger twin brothers and said,"You two have to find our Alebrijas and see if they're OK."

The twins replied cheerfully,"Yes, ma'am!"

With that said, Oscar and Felipe ran in the opposite direction.

As the Riveras continued to run, Coco asked her mother,"What do we do once we see Victoria?"

Imelda bit her lip. She had not figured out that part yet. She answered softly,"I don't know, Coco..."

Coco looked over her shoulder to see all of the traumatized people in the plaza. Coco then looked at her father with uncertainty. Hector gave her daughter a reassuring smile and said,"If I know Imelda, she'll have a plan soon."

Coco smiled back.


	3. Back to Normal

Miguel cried out in fear. "Help!"

He was miles and miles and miles high up in the air. Miguel could feel wind rush past his face. Miguel looked down to see rows of houses and crowds of people looking up and pointing up at him.

Victoria soon laid Miguel down in a brown nest that was placed on top of the tallest mountain.

Miguel breathed heavily as he stared up at Victoria. She looked at him with neutral eyes. Miguel squinted his eyes.

 _Those eyes... Tia Victoria...?_ Miguel thought in amazement.

Tears started flowing down Miguel's eyes. He immediately gave Victoria a hug. "Victoria... What happened to you?"

Miguel's sobs began to worsen. However, he managed to look at Victoria right in the eye. "Please... tell me that you'll turn back to normal... I love you..."

As Miguel wept uncontrollably, he could see golden sparkles in the corner of his eye. Within seconds, he pulled back from the hug to see Victoria glow a brilliant white. The light soon died down to reveal Victoria in her normal form.

Miguel said in glee,"Tia Victoria!"

Victoria gave Miguel a big kiss on the cheek. She then said,"Thank you, Miguel."

That said, Victoria froze. She looked straight at Miguel and told him, feeling horrified,"Tell me... please tell me that I didn't cause any trouble as a piñata..."

Miguel chuckled nervously and was about to reply when he could hear Dante, Pepita, and Rosebud in the distance. Soon enough the spirit animals and the rest of the Riveras appeared before Miguel and Victoria.

Victoria smiled at her family at first but soon glared, particularly at Imelda.

Victoria asked Imelda in frustration,"What were you thinking keeping that elixir?"

Imelda was shocked at Victoria's tone of voice. She's never heard her talk like that before. But, Imelda brushed it off and replied,"I had it in case of an emergency."

Victoria squeezed her eyes shut in anger. "No... magic causes emergencies. If it hadn't been for you, I could've had a normal birthday."

Imelda tried to hold in her wrath. "Well, it sure is a darn good thing Miguel and I found magic! If we didn't then you would still be a lifeless statue!"

Miguel suddenly shouted,"Stop!" Everyone stared at Miguel. "Listen to you two! This isn't the Imelda and Victoria I know and love. You're letting the last of the magic in the air get to you!"

Imelda and Victoria looked at each other then looked down with guilt.

Rosa put her hands on her hips and said out loud,"Wait... magic is the reason behind all of this? There's no such thing."

Determined to show his cousin that she was wrong, he snatched the elixir from Imelda's apron pouch. Imelda gasped and was about to scold her grandson when Miguel tripped. Magic spilled out from the elixir which caused the mountain trail to turn into a raging river!


	4. Clever Imelda

Somehow Imelda got separated from the rest of her family. She tried with all her might to swim against the current of the river but it was far too strong.

An idea suddenly popped into her head. Imelda removed the pink ribbon that held her hair up in a bun and swung it towards a nearby tree. It successfully got tangled up on a branch. Imelda tightened her grip on the ribbon even though she knew this plan wouldn't work forever.

To her relief, she could see Miguel and the rest of the Rivera family heading towards her. Imelda quickly shouted,"I need you all to hold each other's hands! We need to form a chain!"

It was a last minute plan but the Riveras trusted Imelda. They all managed to form a link in the middle of the raging river with Miguel at the very end. An extremely determined Imelda swung the Riveras around. That's when Miguel got a hold of some land. Once he got up on his feet, he pulled his family out of the river.

It was only a mattter of time before everyone was down on their knees and couging up the water that got in their lungs.

Imelda asked in concern,"Is everyone alright?"

Miguel and the others nodded at the matriarch of their family.

Rosita asked Victoria with a playful smile,"Some birthday, huh?"

Victoria only stared at the younger skeleton. "We almost fell down a waterfall! Oh yes, best... birthday... ever..."

Rosita murmured in embarrassment,"I was just asking..."

Hector asked his wife,"So... what now? I mean with Victoria nearly destroying all of Santa Cecilia."

Victoria crossed her arms and glared at Hector who chuckled nervously.

That's when Miguel had an idea. He shouted excitedly,"A fundraiser!"

Everyone looked at Miguel in confusion. Miguel continued,"We could have a music festival! All kinds of people would come to it!"

Hector said as he happily ruffled Miguel's hair,"You're one smart cookie, Chamaco."

* * *

As the golden sun set out in the horizon, people from all across Mexico entered the Mariachi Plaza. A lively band was playing Mexican Hat Dance music. Girls in beautiful, flowing dresses danced to the merry tunes. Rosita cupped her cheeks in delight. "Look at all the people!"

Victoria gave off a small smile and looked down at Miguel. "You sure know how to bring a lot of people together."

Miguel couldn't help but blush.

Imelda crossed her arms in approval. "So this is what a music festival in the Land of the Living looks like..."

Rosa suddenly came up to Miguel with a big box full of cash and said excitedly,"Guess what? We've made more than enough money to fix Santa Cecilia!"

This made Miguel bust out his best grito. Hector, Julio, Oscar, and Felipe joined in as well.

Rosita told herself as she playfully rolled her eyes,"Boys will be boys."

Victoria chuckled at Rosita's adorable comment. Suddenly she noticed Miguel's younger twin cousins approach her with a small present in hand. They said happily,"Happy birthday, Tia Victoria!"

Victoria was touched by the kind act so she bent down and gave the twins a loving hug.

Miguel said to Imelda amd Hector,"I'm going to get us some nachos. Be right back."

Hector and Imelda waved good-bye to their grandson. As they did, the band started playing La Llorona. Hector grinned, bowed down before Imelda, offered her his hand, and asked,"May I have this dance?"

Imelda rolled her eyes despite having a smile on her face. She happily accepted Hector's hand and the couple made their way to the dance floor.

By the time Miguel came back with the nachos, he noticed every member of his family dancing in pairs. He looked at them with a sad smile.

If only someone would dance with me... Miguel thought, feeling disappointed.

Suddenly, Rosa offered her hand to Miguel. With huge grins on their faces, Miguel and Rosa made it to the dance floor.

As Tia Victoria danced alongside her family, she thought, _Best birthday ever..._


End file.
